


Undeniable

by GalaxyAqua



Series: Sugar [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4473491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyAqua/pseuds/GalaxyAqua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hajime Hinata's not going to say that he's waiting for that stupid face to show up at the café again... but he's not going to say that he's not. He's definitely not waiting for anyone. Or listening to Chiaki Nanami. He's not doing that either. (...Yes he is).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Undeniable

**Author's Note:**

> yeah I couldn't hold back ... this is a komahina continuation of "Unacceptable" (naegami); also there's another part which will be, surprise!kirinami bc it just... fit. in. with this stupid au. 
> 
> uhh you can probably read this standalone, but it'll make more sense to read the other one first?? I understand if it's not your ~cup of tea~ though.

Working at Hope’s Peak Café has its ups and downs, but Hinata has to say he really can’t complain. Sure, some days are slow and boring – and his attention span seems to dwindle every hour or so anyway – but all in all, it’s a stable job that pays well and one which he takes pride in doing.

Chiaki Nanami, a co-worker who shares his shifts more often than not, is luckily pleasant company. He’s been challenged by her on multiple occasions to help buy time; whether it be in latte art, in guessing customer’s orders or in cleaning tables, and this week she had once again proposed something different.

“Describe people only through items on the menu,” she had told him, and at his perplexed look she added, “For example, I could call you a hazelnut latte because of your hair… you see?”

Hinata had frowned at that, not taking to the idea as quickly as she seemed to expect. (Then again, he was stubborn by nature and never seemed interested at first). “Wouldn’t that get confusing?”

“Well, make it interesting then,” Nanami then tilted her head to the side, “Perhaps we could pretend that they’re codenames… so with regulars, we could call them by the drink they prefer to order.”

Hinata had shrugged in response. “So I could call Naegi ‘espresso, twelve sugars’, right?” He chanced a smirk, remembering all too well the first time the little college boy had sauntered up to the counter. It was what had gotten their first banned customer after all – Naegi’s classmate Kyouko Kirigiri, though the girl had done nothing but provide them with quality entertainment – yet banned as she might be, Nanami always let her in anyway, the snitch.

“That would be correct.” His co-worker shot him a small smile in return, cheekiness twinkling in her eyes, “And I could call Togami, ‘Mr. Civet’, probably.”

“Oh my god,” Hinata said. “He doesn’t even order civet coffee anymore.”

“But it’s his favorite,” she remarked with a wave of her hand. “We just don’t do it justice, in his high-and-mighty eyes.”

“Ugh, and don’t I know it.”

“Aww, it’s okay, Hinata.” Nanami smiled a little wider, pulling her sleeves over her hands. “At least he’s still a loyal customer… I think.”

“I wonder why.”

“Why, indeed.” She then gave him a knowing look. “So are we game or no?”

“Okay, let’s do it then, whatever.” the brunet had agreed carelessly, moving quickly at the sound of the door opening and going to greet the first customer of the day. And that was how it began.

* * *

  _Day 3,_ Hinata tells himself, _this is the third day of doing this already. And damn, this guy is back. What was his name again? Ugh, just. Damn. Peppermint hot chocolate. He’s cute. So help me. Looks like I’m asking for his name again then. Act casual, man. Man. Damn. Wow. Snap out of it, Hinata._

“Sorry, what was that?” inquires the gorgeous being in Hinata’s immediate line of sight and the barista fumbles, trying to make up some sort of excuse and failing. Still, once sort of comfortable, he tries to follow through with the whole ‘act casual’ plan.

“Can I get a name for your order?” he asks the man over the counter, taking care to look everywhere but at his face. Yep. Casual.

“Umm,” the customer hums quietly, holding out a few coins for Hinata to take, “Komaeda is fine. If that’s okay with you?”

“S-sure,” the barista curses himself for stuttering, and accepts the payment gingerly; glad that ‘Komaeda’ at least had the decency to pay in exact amounts. He waits until the man nods and steps away before he panics.

“Green tea frappuccino,” Hinata hisses urgently to Nanami, who busies herself giggling under the table ( _like an excited schoolgirl_ , Hinata thinks while rolling his eyes). “Come up here and make it, dammit.”

“And don’t you like green tea frappuccinos,” she says cheerfully, clambering up to her feet as Hinata scowls at her. “Yesterday it was peppermint hot chocolate… maybe.”

“I don’t like…! That’s not the point – I mean, that… it’s, that’s because he’s ordering something different today. You know what I mean.” Hinata grumbles, finally reaching a coherent statement and directing a glare at her now they were at the same level. Stupidly perceptive co-worker. “Now are you gonna make the drink or not?”

“Maybe you should talk to him.” Nanami suggests with bright, innocent eyes. Hinata doesn’t fall for it for a second.

“Go make the drink, Nanami.”

As she saunters sluggishly over to the machine, Hinata has half a mind to just take over for her, but stops himself last minute. If she had time to tease him, then she could manage making another drink or two. He swivels back around and storms to the counter, all nerves on edge.

 _It’s all his fault_ , he thinks, glaring daggers across the room at ‘Komaeda’; today dubbed ‘green tea frappuccino’. The customer in question stands patiently in the corner, tapping away at a glitzy phone with pretty fingers and enchanting eyes and – stupidly, stupidly attractively – mouthing the words he typed as he went.

No, Hinata doesn’t like him. Not one bit. _But damn._ Like if he _did_ like him, which he _doesn’t_ , then he would totally take this guy out. But he _doesn’t._

Hinata doesn’t even notice his glare becoming more of a blatant stare, before the familiar face of Naegi pops up at the counter and waves a hand in his face.

“Hinata…?” He asks, standing on his toes to lean over the counter. “You in there, buddy?”

“Sorry!” In his defence, Hinata is quick to answer and poses at the register in what he assumes is an efficient manner. If he blushes, it is a lie, because Hajime Hinata never blushes. He clears his throat once, hoping he looks friendly when he asks, “Same as usual, Naegi?”

“What’s eating you?” Naegi gives him a concerned smile, hopping back down onto the soles of his feet. He’s an endearing little soul, this customer, but Hinata doesn’t think Naegi can save him this time. “Is something wrong, Hinata?”

“He has a craving for a certain green tea frap,” Nanami answers casually from behind, and Hinata chokes.

“I don’t like him!” he protests loudly, before realising the slip-up. He almost swears, before he notices Komaeda’s gaze flickering up towards them and thinks better of it. Instead, he turns to just hiss at Nanami again.

His co-worker is already walking away though, and when she winks at Naegi and nods her head in a direction she really should not have nodded (thank god Komaeda turned away), Hinata suppresses the urge to chase her down.

“So,” Naegi commences again sweetly, avidly ignoring Hinata’s embarrassment to brush his hand over the menu. “Green tea is nice.”

“How does green tea with twelve thousand sugars sound then?” Hinata bites out sarcastically, knowing by now it would do Naegi no harm.

The sound of a fist slamming a table nearby alarms both of them though, and whilst Hinata regards the melodramatic blond source of the noise with immediate curiosity, Naegi squeaks.

“N-no, I don’t think so,” the college student replies nervously, seeming in his suddenly anxious state to not understand a joke when he sees one. Hinata represses the urge to pat the boy on the head.

“Oh, really?”

Naegi follows up with a sigh, “Well, my preferences aside…” His green eyes linger momentarily on the man who had previously interrupted their conversation, speaking carefully about him now knowing full well the heir could hear them. “Togami’s been bribing me with cake, if I put less sugar in my drinks.”

The barista deadpans. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

“What can I say?” Naegi grins, “He’s a coffee lover, through and through.”

“Right.” Hinata nods uncertainly, eyebrows raised. A thought suddenly occurs to him. “Wait, are you two…?”

“No!” Naegi’s grin slips in place of another, frantic expression. “No, no, it’s not like whatever you’re implying at all! Er, how should I say it… it’s just a coincidence? Anyway, it’s not- it’s not like we’re – “

“Friends?” Hinata asks, with a vague smirk. “I was just gonna ask if you guys were friends, but I mean, if there’s something more…”

“Small espresso, twelve sugars, small double espresso, no sugar, one vanilla slice because I owe Kirigiri and you won’t let her in, a chocolate muffin and a jam scone without cream to go,” Naegi starts listing out at an alarming pace, arms waving about, stopping finally to catch his breath and add, “Please…”

The smirk doesn’t leave Hinata’s lips but he obediently records the order and rings the poor, flustered college student up. “Anything else?” he teases, and Naegi shakes his head.

“Here’s the money, keep the change,” he tells Hinata and the cash falls onto the counter speedily, before Naegi is off. He returns seconds later, to gesture awkwardly to a table off to the side. The same table Togami sat at, drumming impatient fingers on the table. Hinata barely stopped himself from grinning, not wanting to be any ruder in Naegi’s gentle presence. “I’ll be, um, sitting over here, so could you bring it over when you’re done?”

“Of course.” Hinata replies airily, “Have a nice date.”

“I-I’m not on a –“

“Yep.”

“I said I’m not on a – “

“Okay.”

“Stop interrupting me, I – “

“Green tea frappuccino!” Nanami calls, a pointed look in Hinata’s direction. Naegi escapes while the barista is suddenly distracted. Wait, no, he’s not distracted. Hajime Hinata is a very attentive, very hardworking employee, thank you very much.

A moment passes, before Nanami corrects herself, the ghost of a smirk on the corner of her lips. “Ah, sorry, I meant… Komaeda? I have your order.”

“Coming,” A smooth voice replies, from the very direction Hinata would never admit to having stared in. Then the voice wavers, and the sound of something falling over can be heard, and Komaeda winces as it lands. “Ah, whoops, sorry, hold on a sec, I’m dropping everything here, won’t be long… aha…”

Hinata doesn’t remember ever moving on auto-pilot like that in his life. “I got you,” he hears himself saying, suddenly much closer and reaching over to steady the pretty man; before Komaeda keels over trying to apologetically pick up the display he had bumped into.

“Thanks,” answers a grateful smile and snowflake-laden _(or at least it looked like it, wow dang that is some pretty fairy tale hair going on there)_ lashes. Grey eyes dart down quickly, to the name tag on his chest, “Hinata.”

“Oh my god,” he says out loud, slightly dumbstruck, and Komaeda blinks.

“Pardon?”

“Nope, um. No. I didn’t. Forget that.” Hinata decides that now is a good time to go back behind the counter and hide there for a good ten years. He settles for shuffling his feet awkwardly and gesturing towards the counter, “Uh, anyway, I’ve got to go back to work. You can fetch your drink from Nanami when you’re ready. She can wait.”

Nanami waves, probably a little too enthusiastically, from her perch below the ‘wait here’ sign. The _snitch_.

“See you, bye, good afternoon.” Hinata blurts, before all but running and jumping back to his post, and then standing stiffly at the register once more, ears burning. _God. Let’s hope that never happens again._

“Thank you again,” Komaeda replies, his mouth twitching in amusement. When Nanami hands him his drink, Hinata isn’t even surprised to see her ask him something before he goes, but he certainly is surprised when Komaeda shoots him a look of concern before wandering out the doors.

Subtly, Hinata inches towards his co-worker. “You said something weird, didn’t you?”

“Not a thing,” Nanami answers with a pout, as if she were offended at the accusation. Her smile afterwards, however, did nothing to soothe his agitation. “Just told him that you weren’t game enough to try green tea frappuccino yourself.”

He glares at her, and remains somewhat suspicious, but squares his shoulders and gets to work on Naegi’s order. _It doesn’t matter,_ Hinata tells himself, _he’s probably not going to come back after today anyway._

* * *

 But like many things in Hinata’s life, fate decided it would prove him wrong once more.

“Hello Hinata,” greets Komaeda the next day, and the barista has to keep himself from visibly flinching. _Well, at least he’s as beautiful as ever. Not that I think he’s beautiful. No way. He’s just got nice eyes. Not. Nope. Not today, Hinata. Keep the gay down._

It’s a struggle to keep his voice even, but Hinata manages, if not also managing to look well and truly pissed off in the process. “Hi. Welcome. What do you want?”

Komaeda smiles, “Could I be so forward as to ask for something that isn’t on the menu?”

“Eh.” Hinata straightens out his apron and shrugs. “Usually I’d say no. I’m feeling generous today though so if we can do it for you, then fine. But don’t make it a habit.”

“What if I want to make it a habit…?” A touch of humor in his tone tells Hinata he isn’t serious, so the barista just sighs and plays along.

“Then you’ll be joining a sassy coffee-dumping law student with purple hair on the ‘banned-customers’ list.” He answers, crossing his arms. “So what will it be?”

“A sassy coffee-dumping law student with purple hair?” Remarks Komaeda with genuine awe. “Sounds like quite a story.”

“One we’ll be telling at a certain future wedding, that’s for sure.”

He hears Nanami snort “huh? What?” in the background, and considers it one point to Hinata, zero points to the conspirator. Except yesterday probably went more like _ten points to Nanami, negative ten points to Hinata,_ he thinks, but quickly ignores it. New day, new rules. Shut up, it makes sense.

“Inside joke?” Komaeda asks, and Hinata suddenly remembers who he is talking to and raises his hands.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Don’t worry, you probably don’t want to know.”

“Would you tell me if I asked?”

“I guess.” The brunet pauses for a moment, looking over at the line starting to form. “Er. But not now. Now is not a good time. Got orders to make and drinks to take. Yeah. You know. The usual.”

He hears Nanami giggle and whisper, “Then when?” from behind him and is even more surprised when Komaeda repeats the question, a cautious shyness overtaking his features.

“Then when…?”

“When? Uh. When.” Hinata finds himself a little stumped for words, so kicks the bench and confidently declares, “When you’ve made your order, I’ll tell you when. Or, you know, when I'm off-duty. And after you've made your order.”

Komaeda blinks owlishly for a few seconds, before a dash of red spreads across his pale cheeks. “Um, actually… the same as yesterday, then? Is that okay?”

“Oh, so no special order today?” remarks Hinata dryly, as he taps in the appropriate numbers. "Green tea frappuccino. Right?"

“I’ll be here for a while.” The customer answers with a nod of his head at the line. He hands Hinata the money. “Don’t worry about it for now.”

The barista takes the payment and puts his business-face on. “If you would just like to wait over there, sir, we’ll call out your name when your drink is ready.”

“It’s Komaeda,” the customer says.

Hinata turns around, “What?”

“My name? You need my name, right?”

“Oh. Oh yeah.” _Crap._ Hinata thinks. _Would it be creepy to tell him I already knew that?_  ”I know.” _Well, never mind, then._

Komaeda has the manners to let it be, however, and the barista is none the more thankful for it. He definitely doesn’t find his gaze following the young man as he drifts off to the side, no, definitely not.

Nanami steps on his foot. He clears his throat. “Next.”

* * *

 Later, when he’s finally off his shift, and entirely undistracted, Hinata finds that Komaeda stayed true to his word – and waited. The barista has half the mind to feel bad, but it’s not as if he told the guy to wait; he did that of his own accord. 

“Hey,” Hinata greets, sliding into the chair opposite, and the gesture catches the other’s attention.  _Act casual, Hinata._ "So uh... you're. Here. Sitting here."  _  
_

“Hey,” Komaeda echoes, lips tugging into a smile. “You actually came.”

“Well, why the hell wouldn’t I?”

“You don’t know me, for a start.”

Hinata rolls his eyes. “If I ignored everyone I didn’t know then I would never have any friends.”

Komaeda looks sheepish at that, but says nothing more on the subject. “So, will you tell me your story?”

“Huh? Oh, that.” The barista looks thoughtful. “Well, sure. It’s not as grand as you seem to think though.”

Regardless, Hinata sweeps well into the story, and the timing of his audience's reactions make it worth all the while. So he tells another. And another. And sooner than either of them realize - the sun has already begun to set. Unsurprisingly, it is Chiaki who snaps them out of their little  _ahem_ dream world, and once back to his senses, Hinata spots Komaeda's apprehensive expression and wonders if he may have scared the other male into submission.

"... I should be getting back." The fair-haired, beautiful man says, leaning over to acquire something.

Hinata pauses, looking over at Komaeda who is tugging a jacket from his bag, clearly avoiding eye contact. Despite himself, Hinata finds that he wants nothing more than to look into the other's eyes, but  _not like that,_  of course.Just to see if he's okay. Or if Hinata had overstayed his welcome. Come to think of it, he  _had_ been doing most of the talking...

"Hinata?"

"Wait!" The answer is delayed, and seems awfully out of place, but Hinata plows onward. "Could we do this again sometime?"

The other looks uneasy. "I don't know... I'm happy enough having spent time with you today, already. If I hang around for too long, something bad might happen!" As if as an afterthought, he adds hastily, "Just because, you know! Bad things happen all the time!"

Unconvinced, and in full belief that he _may_ have scared the guy off, Hinata gives him a look. But if Komaeda was going to be that way, it's not as if he can stop him. He ignores the hostility threatening to emerge - pretty or not, the man was still essentially a customer, and needed to be treated as such - and shrugs. "Yeah... sure. Well, I mean, I guess I'll see you around, then. Have a nice night."

Hinata turns to walk away, ready to go home and temporarily pretend green tea doesn't exist. It's okay. It's not like he  _liked_ the guy, anyway. Of course not. 

This time, however, the other's voice rings out behind him, "Wait!"

"What?" His heart skips a beat.

"I'd ... love to. Spend time with you again." Komaeda admits, grey eyes shining, then dimming almost immediately. "If you'll have someone like me to keep you company..."

Losing the ability to process things properly, Hinata simply nods his head, saying, "Oh... cool."

Relief floods Komaeda's face, and he suddenly appears much more confident. "Ah, and another thing. That special order..."

"Right, the green tea frappuccino?" 

"No," he laughs quietly. "The other one. I wanted to follow your friend's advice... and ask for something not on the menu, remember?"

 _Snitch,_ Hinata curses Nanami once more, knowing exactly what she told Komaeda to 'special order'. Still, he plays dumb, if only to reassure himself that  _no,_ he was not embarrassed at all that Komaeda had known about his non-existent feelings, courtesy of Nanami. Dammit. "Oh yeah. What was that, anyway?" 

Komaeda, curse him too, shamelessly tells him, "You, obviously. I was going to order  _you_."

Stunned at the abruptness, and even more mortified that Komaeda had said it  _just like that,_ Hinata straightens and shoves him. "Get out!"

"You knew I was going to say that, didn't you, Hinata? It was written all over your face."

"Shut up!"  _Hinata is not blushing. Hajime Hinata does not blush._ "You, just - go away!"

"Of course, of course! I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself... I really am such a bad - "

"If you know that already, then don't say things like that without warning!"

"I overstepped, I'm sorry, I - " Komaeda flinches at the volume, but already dizzy with the days of ( _stupid, stupid_ ) denial before this, Hinata grabs his arm and presses his lips to a cold, white forehead. It smells like green tea and peppermint.

He doesn't miss the way Komaeda reddens to the tips of his ears, makes some jumbled excuse, and full-out sprints down the street. 

He also doesn't miss the way Komaeda leans over the counter the next day, and tells him with all seriousness, "I'd like a green tea frap, and a Hinata to-go."

Nanami snorts when Hinata all but abandons his post at the register, shaking her head with a, "He was game enough to try it, after all."

With the overwhelming taste of green tea on his tongue, he doesn't even open his mouth to argue.


End file.
